Category: Comedy

Love what Cath Styles brings to the table every year, but this show has been a long time coming! Cath has some amazing “Cougar” material and it’s been part of her regular sets for many years … but then! It all came true! She is an Accidental Cougar!

In the wake of becoming unexpectedly single, and even more unexpectedly turning 50, this fierce, funny feminist finds out what it’s like when your favourite joke becomes a reality!

From break-ups to wake-ups (and make-up!), Accidental Cougar is a fresh and funny look at dating later, and ever

after.

Two jobs, two cats, two countries and four kids… nurse, comic, mother and mad international traveller Cath Styles finds a keepsake in Africa which turns her life upside down and makes her ask the big question…

Can you live your own punchline?

Cath Styles brings her new show Accidental Cougar to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2018. It’s funny, it’s real and it’s certainly relatable to many of us who’ve been thrown a curve ball in life. Come along and laugh with Cath as she navigates dating, life and everything in between.

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Loved this show! Lucky enough to attend as a guest on Opening Night and just loved it. Mix of fairytales, mystery and enchantment. The darkness of the tales is broken up by the well-timed comedy throughout. Talented actors and a brilliant set. Just a few nights left in Melbourne so get down to see it!

The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls opened in Melbourne on 19th May 2017. Not knowing what to expect, I can honestly say this is an exceptional piece of independent theatre, one of the best I’ve seen in a while. Well produced, brilliantly acted and totally engaging.

The storyline is:

Once upon a time, in 2005, 20-year-old Annie is sent by her mother back to her native Russia to brush up on the language, and lose her American accent. Underneath an opulent, neon-lit, post-Soviet Moscow she discovers an enchanted motherland – teeming with evil stepmothers, wicked witches, and ravenous bears.

The dynamic nature of the play means there is never a dull moment. The fairytale stories have been intertwined and you keep guessing throughout, what will happen next. I loved the tailoring of the stories to the Russian setting and the actors captured that grim side to the fairytale’s well, as did the set.

The actors are all brilliant and perfect for their parts, however I must point out that Felicity Steel is a stand out. Her stage presence and physicality is spectacular and her delivery of the character will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Some of the players performed multiple roles which added a great dimension, and made the cast seem much larger than it was. A great diversity amongst the players too.

The Irene Mitchell Theatre is a lovely little venue tucked away in the backstreets of South Yarra. There’s a bar at the show – but make sure to eat before you arrive as there aren’t so many food outlets close by. What they’ve done with the set is incredible and it was the perfect space for this back streets fairytale play.

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The campaign for Australian Aid has been a force to be reckoned with – creating amazing and unique ways to get Australian Aid back on the agenda. We have so much in this country – I know you may feel you are struggling, but on a World scale, you have no ideas. I’m blessed to have had the opportunity to travel and to see upon reflection how fortunate we really are.

What we don’t understand, is that by helping others, we in turn reduce the risks to Australia both financially and often in the health sector. I.e. by working to reduce instances of disease and prevent the spread, the cost is less and there is a lower chance that it would reach Australia.

Anywho, this post is about an incredible comedy event on TONIGHT (sorry for the late notice) in Sydney. Here’s the details and I hope you can get along and learn more about how we can do more for others.

Sydney Comedy Gala Screening: Australia, Who the Bloody Hell Are We?

A variety show and film screening of the Campaign for Australian Aid’s Australia, Who the Bloody Hell Are We? Comedy Gala, will take place at Giant Dwarf Theatre this Thursday 13 Oc- tober.

The screening will showcase highlights from the Australia, Who the Bloody Hell Are We? Com- edy Gala that was held in Melbourne last week. The Melbourne Gala was hosted by the award- winning Tom Ballard who was joined by 11 of Australia’s most talented acts including Tripod, Nelly Thomas and Shiralee Hood. The event encourages people to place our national identity, values and global citizenship under the microscope.

“Comedy is a great way to analyse Australia’s place in the world, while focusing on what unites us rather than what divides us. Comedy is a great way to look at Australia’s performance as a global citizen, while also examining a number of pressing challenges such as inequality and cli- mate change,” said Ricky Keung, Sydney’s State Organiser for the Campaign for Australian Aid.

The Campaign for Australian Aid is a movement of people, organisations, communities and businesses who believe that our country can and should do more to help build a better, fairer future for all. It represents over 65 aid and development organisations, church, business and community groups.

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EXCITING TIMES! My gorgeous and talented friend Cath is back at Melbourne International Comedy Festival with a brand new show, SHIFT!

I’ve always found it fascinating how Cath juggles her professional career psychiatric nursing, with her passion and love for comedy. She nails both but add in family, friends, and life as well as your two work lives…. things get interesting.

It’s on from 5-17th April and we’ve got 2 x Double Passes to giveaway.

Tell us when and how you have lived a double life?

You can pick the date you would like to attend – just answer in the comments below!

We invite you to explore the craziness of a way of life where strange is normal, and normal is strange as Cath Styles presents her new show SHIFT at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2016.

Cath Styles has been a psychiatric nurse for 25 years, and a comedian for 10. Between the nights, evenings, weekends and holidays she’s worked in both jobs, she’s never had a weekend off. Ever! Shift is the show where both her worlds collide, and explores her on again, off again, love affair with her (paying!) job.

No stranger to finding the funny in the dark and bizarre, the creator of festival favourite Darkness and Light blends stand-up and storytelling to tell touching, and twisted tales of her enduring 25 year fling with psych nursing.

The show will run from April 5 to 17 at The Downstairs Lounge at the Grand Mercure Hotel at 6.30pm. Details for…

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Kirsty Mac is bold, unapologetic and damn funny. She’s bringing her new show to Melbourne and it opens tonight. Manflu!

I’ve seen a number of Kirsty’s performance and love her wit, way with words and her ability to bring the laughs with the most serious of subject matter.

A bit more about the show:

What is MANFLU? Have you had it? Is it contagious? But most importantly, could it be messing with your mojo…

MANFLU is all about the history of the patriarchy and the systemic history of oppression for all genders. Stories and jokes about domestic violence, pick-up artists, mens rights activists and how Kirsty Mac is beating them all at their own game. ‘But if you’re expecting a man-hating diatribe that’s only after smiles of solidarity from sisters in the audience, you’re going to be disappointed.

This super talented lady has been in a number of ensemble casts and co-written shows with other performers. She’s now branching out on her own in this hilarious piece. I got a sneak preview in her spot at Festival Club last night, and this girl has got it going on.

We’re born, we are shoveled into a channel of carbohydrate, and the weight of life’s commitments are thrown on top of us.

The Tomato Salsa of Dreams. The Guacamole of Expectations. The Sour Cream of Hope.

This is the debut solo show from comedian and spicy hot tamale Lauren Bok.

Lauren Bok is a Melbourne-based comedian with a bright, witty, physical style. She is a regular on the comedy circuit in Melbourne and interstate, and appears nationally on Channel 31’s Live on Bowen, Games Night, OffBeat and About Tonight.‘Genuinely funny, entertaining and witty. ★★★★’ Beat Magazine

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Last year I saw Juan Vesuvius perform his clown DJ show, Calypso Nights, at Melbourne International Comedy Festival and it was an absolute stand out! It’s stayed in my mind and I’m so excited to be seeing “Juan Two?” tonight! Getting my Calypso moves ready and hunting down the maracas! Come along for opening night.

More about the show:

Following his music-infused cult hit, Calypso Nights, award-winning Venezualan DJ Juan Vesuvius is back with a brand new adventure in Caribbean music, politics and absurdism.

Calypso Nights: Juan, Two? is the second instalment in Juan’s mission to heal the world with calypso. Wow. Beautiful.

Using his unique brand of vinyl-mixing, maraca-wielding comedy Juan will guide you on a journey that is part music lesson, part dance party, part psychedelic chutney trip.

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Love the work of Emma Maye aka Betty Grumble. She’s super talented and always challenging the norms! Now she’s saving the world at Adelaide Fringe 2016!

Meet Betty Grumble, surreal showgirl, obscene beauty queen and sex clown. She has one hour to save the world. This is your invitation to the event horizon as we go unashamedly into a burlesquing cabaret of deep disco dissent.

An ecosexual gesture and womanly reveal GRUMBLE weaves stories of rage, desire, hope and humour among energetic eruptions of song, dance, sensation and internal organs. Part protest, part party. Are you Betty to Grumble?

Bring your grin’ cause if it wasn’t so serious she wouldn’t be laughing so hard. Love and Anger,

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If anyone has seen my facebook, instagram or twitter feeds lately they will know… I love UNICORNS! So when I saw that there was a show called “I am not a Unicorn!” I was a little more than intrigued.

Who doesn’t want to be a unicorn! Well! Emma J Hawkins doesn’t, at least, she doesn’t want to be referred to as one ( between you and I, she also thinks they are quite awesome.) Emma has made an incredible festival show that I got to see at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival last year. It’s got fairytales, unicorns, laughs, poingant moments and lots of suprises in store. And now… Adelaide Fringe, it’s your turn!

Don’t miss this show – here’s a little bit more:

Come and get lost down the rabbit hole with Emma J Hawkins, where Alice is probably drunk playing cards with Goldilocks and the three bears.

I am not a Unicorn! is peppered with moments so immersive that the audience truly gets to feel what it is like to walk in a short statured person’s shoes. Experience an engaging and light hearted look at life lived at 103cm short.

Emma is a keen supporter and advocate for fair representation of diversity in Australian performing arts specifically for artists with a disability. Although the show is often tongue in cheek and light, Emma also hopes to raise awareness for the acceptance of disabilities in the community and the perception of what is ‘normal’.